Completing the Flock
by xxjmm96xx
Summary: Takes place after the Fang book in the series. Max decides to go after Fang, leaving the Flock. Which bad guy will decide to go after them next? Are the Erasers back? What will become of Fang, Max, and the Flock's future? Will the Flock ever be complete?
1. Max's Decision

_**A/N: This takes place at the end of the **__**Fang**__** book, the current last book in the Maximum Ride Series. This is basically an idea of what could happen in the next book.**_

_**Disclaimer: James Patterson is an amazing writer, and I unfortunately do not own the Maximum Ride Series. **_

_**Enjoy, and make sure to review!**_

_**Be sure to check out my other stories by going to my profile.**_

___One figure moved through the shadows, totally unsuspecting of the much larger figure following him. _

_ The moon shone through spots in the forest trees and I could see a huge, hairy Eraser paw, reaching to grab the smaller figure. _

_ The small figure spun, sensing something. I saw a flash of his face, and I knew instantly who it was. _

_ "No, Fang!" I yelled, but it was too late. _

_ Erasers jumped from the nearby trees, surrounding Fang in a matter of seconds. _

_ I tried to fight to get to Fang, but my fists and roundhouse kicks slipped uselessly through the Erasers like water. _

_ I fell back and watched in horror as the boy I loved was torn to shreds. _

_ Suddenly, Fang's gory head was in front of me. Only his head. No body._

_ I screamed, bloody murder. _

_ The Fang-head opened his eyes and spoke, cutting off my scream. _

_ "Wake up." It said. "Wake up."_

_ But I had started to scream again. _

_ Wake up, wake up…_

"Max, wake up!" Angel was practically on top of me, screaming at me to get up.

I pried my eyes open some more and looked into her angel-like face. Which I might add, is totally misleading. Angel had been scaring me a lot these past few years. Worry shone in her bright blue eyes.

"You were screaming again, Max." Angel said, frowning.

I pushed her gently off of me and sat up.

A layer of sweat covered me, and I could feel my hair sticking up at odd angles. But I was too freaked out to be self conscious.

I looked and in the doorway stood the rest of my flock, peering in, concerned.

The reason I called them my flock is that we are part avian. Which basically means that we have wings. We were raised in a test tube. We are the only family each other has.

Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel by my side. Dylan was the newest member of the Flock. He was apparently made to be my 'perfect other half.' But I just wasn't feeling it.

The only one missing was Fang. That reminded me of my dream. Correction, my _nightmare._

"I'm really sorry you guys. It was another bad dream. You guys should go back to bed." I said, wanting to be alone with my thoughts.

The Flock members, one by one, slunk back off to their bedrooms, trying to get some rest before morning.

Only Dylan and Angel remained.

"Honestly, I'm fine." I snapped, hating their pitying looks. Immediately I felt horrible; they were only trying to help.

Angel, who had probably, hopped off the bed and took Dylan's hand. With one last look, they were gone.

When I was finally alone, I laid back in bed, sighing.

For those of you who don't know, Fang decided to leave the Flock. He felt it put us in too much danger. So at Total and Akila's wedding, (they're our dogs) he left, only leaving a note for me. We had just started getting romantically involved. After all, we were both teenagers and have known each other since our stay in dog crates.

The Flock didn't like us together, and true, it was distracting and causing us problems, but we couldn't help it.

It had been a month or so since Fang had left me, er, I mean _us._ The whole time I've been having horrible nightmares about things that could be happening to him. Most of the time, I woke up screaming. Talk about embarrassing.

I rubbed at my eyes, which were itching with tiredness. But I did not want to fall asleep and have those nightmares again.

I reached under my pillow and pulled out the note. It was one of the only things I had to remember Fang by. I glanced at my hand and saw the ring he had given me for my "birthday."

(We don't know when our real birthdays are, on account of being raised in a lab. So we make up our birthdays and ages. I'm currently 15.)

The ring glittered on my finger, like a constant reminder of how things were.

I opened up the creased paper gingerly. I had read it so many times already, and I was afraid of it ripping.

I scanned the paper for my favorite parts, like when he told me he loved me. I saw the tear spots that were there from the first time I had read it. And at the end was where he specifically told me not to come after him, how it would only make things harder.

It took every ounce of self control to keep myself from going after him. Every instinct screamed at me to go after him. I would have been out the door a month ago if it were any other member of the Flock, so why not him?

It was then that I knew what I had to do. It only took many sleepless nights and tears to figure it out.

I would go after Fang.

I know the Flock would want to come with me to help Fang, but I didn't want to put them in danger. I would never put them in danger.

I wasn't sure if the Erasers were back for real, or if it was just a nightmare. Either way, the Flock wouldn't be coming.

I wasn't sure if I would even find Fang. But I had to try. Fang was really my other half, even if Dylan was programmed to be.

It was Fang I wanted.

So there it was. My decision. I would go after Fang.

I tucked the note back under my pillow safely, smiling. I was glad to be taking charge again.

I lay down on my back.

I stared at the ceiling, wondering how I was going to explain all this to the rest of my family. I had a feeling that they weren't going to like it.


	2. Departure

_**Alright, no comments yet, I'll try not to take it personally ;D **_

Since I had stayed awake for the rest of the night, I crawled out of bed early and headed to the bathroom to shower.

I was thankful for the hot water. It calmed me down and loosened many of my tight muscles.

When I was finished, I jumped out of the shower and attacked my tangled hair with a brush.

Let me just say one thing, Thank God for conditioner.

I opened the bathroom door and smoke billowed out behind me.

I got dressed quickly, hoping the rest of the Flock would already be awake. I wanted to talk to them ASAP.

My hair was still wet when I opened my bedroom door. But I was clean and fresh, something that didn't occur often when constantly being on the run from bad guys that were after us.

As I stepped into the hallway, I was greeted with the delicious smell of Iggy's cooking. (Don't ask me how a blind guy can cook so well because I really don't know.)

I swiftly made my way to the kitchen, stomach rumbling and mouth watering.

Just as I had thought, everyone was gathered around the kitchen table, waiting as patiently as possible for Iggy's food. Everyone still looked tired, and I felt guilty for waking them up in the middle of the night. Again.

Well, that wouldn't be a problem much longer.

"Good Morning guys." I said a little too cheerfully, plopping into my seat beside Gazzy and Nudge.

Nudge looked at me with her big chocolate brown eyes and smiled. I would really miss everyone.

I quickly banished my thoughts of Fang.

I snuck a peek at Angel, but she didn't seem to notice anything going on in my head.

"Hey Ig, are you almost done?" Gazzy asked. Patience was not one of his strong suits.

"Yeah, yeah I'm coming." Iggy answered as he scooped some eggs onto a plate.

Iggy turned around and passed a plate to everyone, then took his seat.

"Mmm, smells good Iggy." Dylan said, polite as always.

"Anything smells better than Max's cooking" Gazzy announced, causing my face to turn red and Nudge to spit out the juice she was drinking because she started laughing. I tried to glare at them both, but I ended up laughing too.

"So, I'm not a good cook. I don't need to be reminded," I said, sticking my tongue full of food out at Gazzy.

"Eew!" he squealed in a perfect impression of Angel. I laughed.

After that everyone ate in silence, trying to eat as much as possible. We needed our extra energy to fly all the time. So we ate. A lot.

When everyone was finished, Angel and I cleaned up. While I was washing the plates, I said casually, "I want everyone in the living room for a Flock meeting."

Angel looked up from the plate she was drying with a questioning look.

_Get out of my head Angel._ I thought to her.

I saw her pout and return to the dish.

I heard shuffling and whispers as everyone moved into the living room.

Angel and I finished the dishes and went to join them.

Angel skipped into the living room and sat down beside Dylan.

I walked into the room slower, and I didn't se=it down. I felt more like a leader when I'm standing. Plus, I was way too uneasy to sit.

"So guys…" I said, but I trailed off.

Had I really thought this through? Ever since me and Fang got involved, I had been thinking more with my heart then my head. Fang even wrote that in the note.

To be a good leader you have to think with your head. Going after Fang was an impulse of my heart, but I would never be able to think clearly with my head again until Fang was back.

Angel opened her mouth to say something, obviously picking up on my errant thoughts. I gave her one of my famous looks of death and she closed her mouth instantly.

_This is my news to share._ I thought to her.

Not looking to see if she heard, I turned back to everyone. They were looking back at me expectantly, except for Iggy who was waiting quietly.

I cleared my throat and started again. "Last night, since I couldn't go back to sleep, I thought about…Fang."

I took a deep breath.

"I don't know if any of you have realized, but the Flock is not the same without him here. We all need him, not just me. So, I have decided to go after him. Alone." I held my breath and bit my lip, waiting for a reaction.

There was a beat of silence and then chaos broke loose.

Everyone started talking at once and I only heard bits of everyone's conversation.

"Oh Max you _can't _go!.."

"Big surprise. Could have seen that coming…"

"Max, it's really not safe…"

"Last time you left we got attacked…could happen again…"

Angel sat quietly, already knowing what was happening.

"Alright guys, WAIT!" I yelled over the noise.

Everyone begrudgingly fell silent.

"I don't see why you are making such a big deal out of this. If I remember not too long ago, you all voted me out of the Flock, and now you want me to stay? I don't understand." I said, still hurt that they had wanted me gone.

"Max you can't go! Voting you out was a big mistake. This is too dangerous for everyone. I get that you love him, but at least let us come with you so you're not alone!" Nudge said, her wide eyes shining with tears.

"You guys know I wouldn't put you in danger, sweetie." I said, smoothing down her hair.

"Yeah, as if leaving us to be attacked is much safer." Iggy snapped, his arms folded across his chest.

Of all the members of the Flock, Iggy had hated me and Fang being together the most.

"You guys will be way safer here." I protested. "You know that."

"Last time, Angel was leader and she made us superstars. I don't want to do that again." Gazzy said shuddering. Angel glared at him.

I looked down at Gazzy. "This time, Angel won't be leader. We already know that that is a bad thing. I got someone to stay with you this time."

"Who did you get to stay with us Max?" Angel asked, suspicious.

"My Mom and Ella. So you guys better not be rude. And absolutely no controlling her mind Angel." I said sternly.

Nudge sniffled. "Maybe it won't be so bad. I like your Mom."

"Are you kidding? Of course this is bad. All Max cares about is Fang now." Iggy said.

"Iggy. I've made up my mind, I'm going. If you can't understand, then it's your problem."

Then I turned to Dylan who had been silent the whole time.

"What? Nothing to say?" I snapped at him. He usually had unwanted input.

"I don't think I can let you go Max." he said.

"What do you mean?" I said, anger causing my voice to rise.

"If you don't let me go with you, you can't go." Dylan said calmly.

"If I won't let them come, what makes you think I'll let _you_ come?" I said, far from calm.

"It's far too dangerous and I can't lose my other half."

That did it for me. There was that 'other half' crap again. I mean I shouldn't judge the guy; he was programmed to feel that way.

"Fang is my other half, and I'm going because you can't stop me!" I yelled at him, fists raised in case he decided to attack.

The Flock looked at us, mouths open in shock.

I kept my fists raised as I looked at them.

"I'm sorry guys. I will miss you. But I will be back. With Fang." I added with a pointed look at Dylan.

"My mom should be here tonight. Don't follow me." I said.

With a loving look at my Flock, my family, I ran to the front door, grabbing the bag I had packed this morning.

I pushed open the front door. Behind me, I could hear footsteps and Nudge crying.

I blocked it out, afraid I might turn back. I slung the bag over my shoulder.

Once I had enough room, I jumped off the ground and unfurled my wings.

With the wind blowing through my hair and my wings, I felt free.

I loved flying. I wouldn't trade my wings for anything.

Even though I told myself not to, I looked back. With my raptor vision, I saw everyone gathered on the front steps, watching me leave.

I felt horrible, but I had to do this.

I lifted my hand and waved, tears blocking my vision.

This might be the last time I see them.

But I could clearly see four hands waving back and one scowling face.


End file.
